Milky Oil and Transmission Fluid

[Soundguy]

yep.. oily surfaces love water.. and if it breathes a sump will gain water. worse in moist climates.

 

[masseyR1327]

My mate worked as mechanic fitter on heavy machinery all his working life. Where he worked it was forbidden to use diesel or kero to flush hydraulics or gearboxes, because, 1. They can both explode or catch fire. 2. Diesel in particular has additives that can damage some hoses and some seals as well as syncro rings (not all). 3. Some gearboxes have small cups that bearings run in and they do not drain. Hence some diesel or kero may stay there when the machine is run under load. I then spoke to another mate that designed gearboxes for industrial use and he said under no circumstances should diesel be used to flush a gear box. Same reasons as above. Both said use cheap engine oil or better still the grade of oil that is meant for the box. Alcohol should only be used if it can be blown dry with dried compressed air.

 

[Soundguy]

Hmm.. seems questionaable about those bearing races?

not sealed.. as diesel can get in.. but for some reason oil can't get back in once diesel has been in there.

seems odd.. .. seems questionable..

as I said.

do what your boss says or what makes you sleep better.

I'll give you a lil bit of advice on an engineer, from an engineer.... sometimes we tell someone else something that has a good meaning.. but doesn't convery the partiular correct reasoning.. or all the details of why/what/when'where. I've built and designed many things, and left the basic instruction to the user/worker handing the device of" don't touch it, change it, or take it apart / no user serviceable parts inside... when in fact.. there were PLENTY of user serviceable parts inside... at least for the correct user that knew what they were doing.. not the regular line tech who didn't.. and would foul things up just by looking at it too hard. Why did I do this? because if the user did foul it up.. then I would be the one getting the call at 7am from some service manager asking why x wasn't coming on.. or y wasn't working, and basically asking me to fix it over the phone, when I don't know what the line tech did last night to my device, on his shift, before he clocked out and went home with not a care inthe world that the next morning the palnt wouldn't turn on / open for business because he mispatched some wires and left a couple un plugged... not his problem.....

not saying this is the case in the situation you recounted.. just saying...

soundguy

 

[Gale Hawkins]

My mate worked as mechanic fitter on heavy machinery all his working life. Where he worked it was forbidden to use diesel or kero to flush hydraulics or gearboxes, because, 1. They can both explode or catch fire. 2. Diesel in particular has additives that can damage some hoses and some seals as well as syncro rings (not all). 3. Some gearboxes have small cups that bearings run in and they do not drain. Hence some diesel or kero may stay there when the machine is run under load. I then spoke to another mate that designed gearboxes for industrial use and he said under no circumstances should diesel be used to flush a gear box. Same reasons as above. Both said use cheap engine oil or better still the grade of oil that is meant for the box. Alcohol should only be used if it can be blown dry with dried compressed air.

Good points.

Locally today low end hydraulic oil is $35 for five gallons and $20 for diesel. For $45 you can get the high end stuff.

Now I may use some diesel to flush the the holding tank on the dump truck if i ever address the 22 year old crud in the lift system.

I finally got the milk out of the backhoe system after several changes after major leaks. When it had not so old JD fluid AND water my stablizer pads could stay up when parked that way and when shut off one would have to stand on the pads to get them to lower. Now with clean fresh fluid they will drift down when parked for a few weeks. Any thoughts as to why?

 

[megaboz]

Good points.

Locally today low end hydraulic oil is $35 for five gallons and $20 for diesel. For $45 you can get the high end stuff.

Now I may use some diesel to flush the the holding tank on the dump truck if i ever address the 22 year old crud in the lift system.

I finally got the milk out of the backhoe system after several changes after major leaks. When it had not so old JD fluid AND water my stablizer pads could stay up when parked that way and when shut off one would have to stand on the pads to get them to lower. Now with clean fresh fluid they will drift down when parked for a few weeks. Any thoughts as to why?

Just buy some varnish remover for hydraulics and do it the right way. At least then the remanents of what is left won't destroy anything. Run some cheap stuff through a few times if you think it will flush better and be done with it.

As for the other comment in a precious post, I believe it isn't that the diesel wouldn't drain back out but rather sit in a cavity (some of it may not drain) and then would mix with the oil and would still need to be flushed to get the rest of the diesel out.

 

[CalG]

A couple of good comments...not clouded by habit If it's the difference of $15 bucks between the fluid and the "solvent", I'll go for the fluid.

In a note of history and tradition, when I was quite young, my grandfather warned me that diesel fuel "cuts" the lubrication of oil, and not to mix th two on anything that moves. I was cleaning a roller bearing on the swather at the time.

I guess those early lessons stick with a guy.

"Never judge a person by their relatives!"

 

[Soundguy]

In a note of history and tradition, when I was quite young, my grandfather warned me that diesel fuel "cuts" the lubrication of oil, and not to mix th two on anything that moves. I was cleaning a roller bearing on the swather at the time.




QUOTE]

JD engineers clearly disagreed with your GF..

 

[CalG]

I do understand that some fluids have additive packages that allow the fluid to "hold" more water than fluids without these same additives.

I suppose there are different camps on almost every subject.

Tractor guys and machinists can be pretty cranky and set in their ways ;-)

sleep well.

 

[Soundguy]

like i said earlier.. do whatever yer boss tells ya.. or what helps you sleep at night.


i can tell ya i've never lost a microseconds sleep cleaning a bearing or hub and parts in diesel or kero or mineral spirits in my parts washer or in situ.

at work.. we got a fleet of heavy equipment.. pans, crawlers, loaders, hoe's.. you name it.. if it clears land or builds roads.. we probably have one.. or had one at one time.

i can sure tell you at some time.. any part that came off.. got dipped in fuel ol to be cleaned before reinstalled.. when you are rebuildingthe top of something out on a road job.. dust is there.. and it has silica in it.. and it's a fact of life. a clean and flush is almost mandatory .. or you'll be back in again..

anyway.. that's just me... like i said.. whatever brings the warm feeling.... go with it..

 

[CalG]

What is a fella to use to flush out fuel cans? Yesterday I poured the contents of a seldom used fuel can (plastic) into another container. You should have seen the crap that came with! Cautiously, I had put a paint filter in the funnel that caught thee worst of it. (The fuel had been "sitting around" for some time.

After the transfer, I threw a hand full of clean pebbles in the can along with about a half gallon of water and a squeeze of dish soap and then twisted the cap back on. Shook the tar out of the can for about five minutes. When the contents were dumped, It looked like the devil. But the can looked pretty clean after a good rinsing with fresh water ;-0

so i suppose if fuel can get the water out, water can get the fuel out too...

strange whirled is it not ;-)